This invention relates to an instrument which combines means for both illuminating a work area and magnifying its image, and is capable of being adjusted and hand held by a single hand.
In applicant's prior patent, U.S. Pat. No. 3,655,960, issued Apr. 11, 1972, there is disclosed an instrument useful in the graphic arts where there is a continuous requirement for making detailed corrections to negatives, plates and art work by removal of unwanted portions, adding images not present in the original work, repairing portions which were not properly produced in the original. While applicant's prior device has been most suitable for such purposes, experience with the apparatus has indicated that it may be useful in many other fields, e.g. in the medical field it may be used for minor surgery, such as operations on warts, callouses, splinters, imbedded pieces of glass and even for removal of objects from the eye. For such critical paths, the prior art apparatus has certain limitations, which the present improvement overcomes. The improved apparatus disclosed hereinafter has also wide application in other fields and has been found successful for preparing electron microscope slides for use as a dissecting tool in biology labs and in the assembly of components in the electronic and mechanical fields.
The improved device disclosed hereinafter is provided with a much more convenient adjusting means facilitating one hand operation and also has provision for varying the intensity of the illumination.